


probably destiny

by stilljunhui (acyria)



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Tattoos, contrary to the way the summary sounds this isnt angsty or dramatic, okay maybe A Few Times but still, when have i ever not written fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 23:07:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16376780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acyria/pseuds/stilljunhui
Summary: When Hwang Hyunjin thought about his soulmate again, he was eighteen years old.The problem was, he liked Jeongin.





	probably destiny

**Author's Note:**

> I started this a week or so ago, but the plot kept changing as I wrote before I finally got to finishing things. I'm a sucker for soulmate fics and an even bigger sucker for Hyunin; the ship continues to be my writing muse recently, but I'll get back to writing everything and anything else eventually.  
>   
> Title taken from UNB's Feeling! I very recently got into them (read: binge watched their videos until 6am) so I'm actually also itching to write something with them (read: something with Yuchan and Hojung since I will forever ship my biases even if there's nO CONTENT). If you're a UNB stan, hmu!  
>   
> That said, I enjoyed writing this, so I hope you enjoy reading as well! ♡

When Hwang Hyunjin’s Words first appeared, he was sixteen years old. 

 

It was a bright summer day, with the weather not too warm and the clouds in the sky just the right amount. He was tending to the family flower store’s latest batch of sunflowers, finding the golden yellow plants perfect for such a good day; the flowers arrived just earlier that morning, which meant Hyunjin was in charge of repotting them into the store’s hand painted pots, which he painted himself, too.

 

His parents always said he was more fit to run the shop than they were despite his young age, with how much Hyunjin had an affinity for beautiful things. Flowers seemed to bloom better around him, their colours more vibrant and their scents sweeter, while his painted pots attracted customers all the same. It also helped that Hyunjin himself had a smile bright enough to rival the sun and a sweet disposition that matched the flowers he would sell.

 

So when his Words appeared that day, thick and inky on his fair skin, he nearly let go of the pot he was holding in his hands.

 

The Words were a way the soulmate mark manifested itself, although often not the same way for everybody. They appeared on one’s skin, sometimes an entire sentence, sometimes just one single word. Like the whole soulmate ordeal itself, Words were a tricky sort of thing. Some people—in this case, like Hyunjin—got their Words before they were said. It could be anything their soulmate would say to them, anything from the first conversation to the last. 

 

Some people got it after the Words were said, appearing as soon as their soulmate spoke, and soon fading from a pitch black to something that blended better with their skin as a sign that they’ve met. Some never get theirs.

 

Hyunjin stared at the words on his arm. 

 

_Why do you have so many tattoos?_

 

His initial thought was, ‘ _how am I going to explain this to my parents?’_ Followed shortly after by a bit more frantic thought of, ‘ _how am I going to pull this off?’_ He was, by all means, a shy kid. He was more on the conservative side, never stayed out too late, never went to any of those club parties that kids his age seem to frequent despite the dubious legality concerns. He liked stuff like painting, and flowers, and dancing occasionally when he had the time. 

 

Just like most people, he wasn’t keen on the idea of pain, either. The image of a needle being stuck into him multiple times left a shiver down his spine. With his age, he couldn’t even get a tattoo yet without his parents’ permission; how was he going to end up with _so many tattoos_ by the time he met his soulmate? When was he even going to meet his soulmate? He didn’t exactly want to meet them when he was sixty years old or something. This wasn’t the sort of problem he imagined he would suddenly be having in the middle of a flower shop.

 

Well, it wasn’t a problem he ever imagined to have at all.

 

“You could always get fake tattoos,” his best friend Changbin said one day when the older boy visited the shop. “Those kinds where you just press them on your skin.”

 

“Would that really work?” Hyunjin asked, still staring at his wrist. He did think about that at first, but he needed to get pretty realistic fake tattoos if he wanted his Words to be asked. Not just that, but tons of them. It did, however, seem like a better and less painful way. Maybe he could get those tattoo sleeves and hope for the best. He brought this idea up to Changbin, who gave it some thought.

 

The older boy shrugged, “you’re gonna have to wear those things every day, everywhere, if you want to up your chances.”

 

“The opposite of that works, too.”

 

He could, in some way, control when and where he would meet his soulmate. He’ll just wear the tattoos whenever he would have to work in the flower store. An odd sight for a boy like him, but Hyunjin was sure his parents would prefer that as well, as opposed to him getting real tattoos. Sure, it’ll also lower the chances of it happening frequently, but Hyunjin didn’t think the school would allow him to enter with a literal tattoo sleeve either, regardless of whether it was fake. 

 

Well, they weren’t exactly strict, it’s just that Hyunjin would be labeled a delinquent and that’s the exact opposite of who he was.

 

“Just get a few real tattoos,” Changbin eventually said, grinning widely. “So that the fake ones won’t be that obvious. It won’t be that bad. Tell your parents it’s for love.”

 

“Am I that desperate to meet my soulmate?” Hyunjin countered, scrunching his nose at the thought of needles hitting his skin yet again. He didn’t think it mattered much, but the moment the thought crossed his mind something in his chest ached; a clear reminder that even if he still felt too young to be falling in love and all that, he had his Words for a reason. The discomfort didn’t go unnoticed by Changbin, who smirked knowingly.

 

“I’ll think about it once I’m eighteen,” Hyunjin eventually relented. “I’ll be of legal age to get a tattoo by myself. Until then, I won’t think about this whole soulmate ordeal.”

 

“You’re gonna wait _two years_?” Changbin asked in disbelief. 

 

The younger boy took a deep breath and nodded, “for my soulmate, sure.”

 

He realized only after he said it that it was a really cheesy thing to say. The older boy teased him endlessly afterwards, mimicking the Words on his skin. He couldn’t even counter by talking about Changbin’s Words, since those had faded into his skin long ago when Changbin met his soulmate. Rather than something that made him shy, it made the other boy absolutely delighted to talk about his red-haired, freckle faced soulmate, and Hyunjin was sure he didn’t want another round of _that_.

 

When Hwang Hyunjin first met Yang Jeongin, he was seventeen years old.

 

It was terribly rainy day just a bit after winter break started, with temperatures dropping to make way for the snow. As always, Hyunjin was tending to the flower shop since he had the time with school out of the way at least for a few weeks. There weren’t any new deliveries that day due to the bad weather, along with close to no customers at all, so he decided it would be the perfect time to paint some new pots. The shop needed a few winter themed ones to match the upcoming season, after all. 

 

He was just about to get started, paintbrush already in hand, when the door flew open.

 

The gush of cold wind wasn’t pleasant at all, but Hyunjin didn’t think much of it as he hurried over to the boy who just entered, alarmed. The stranger was very clearly drenched despite the umbrella he had in his hand, which looked just about useless. Rather than get annoyed at the puddles growing on the floor, Hyunjin turned his attention to the way the other boy’s lips were slightly shivering from the cold. He didn’t like the extra work, but he definitely wasn’t heartless.

 

Before Hyunjin could speak, the other boy beat him to it.

 

“I’m really sorry for barging in and getting your store all wet. I was on the way somewhere and the rain just began pouring, and the wind was just so strong, then my umbrella pretty much gave up on me and I—“ He paused to catch his breath, still shivering slightly from the cold despite how the store had its heating system turned on. The small break was enough for Hyunjin to regain his senses as he ushered the other further into the store.

 

“No need to explain,” Hyunjin began to say, grabbing a chair from behind the counter and placing it where the hot air that circulated would reach better. “Take your coat off and sit here. I’ll turn the heat up.”

 

The other said a quick thank you and shed himself of the large winter coat he already had on despite the lack of snow. Maybe he was sensitive to the cold? The thought made Hyunjin turn the heat up a little bit more than he originally planned. If it got too hot for him, he could always take his sweater off anyway, thankful he had a shirt underneath at least. After placing a few rags down to absorb the water on the floor, he returned to sit next to the other. 

 

Hyunjin got his first good look at the boy, who seemed smaller now that the large coat was gone.

 

“Tell me if you need the temperature to be warmer,” He said, keeping his tone friendly. The other couldn’t have been older than he was, maybe even younger, with a head of dark hair that was also slightly damp. When the boy said thanks yet again, Hyunjin caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a glint of metal on his teeth. Storing his little observations away, the taller boy smiled, “it’s no problem. I’m Hyunjin, by the way.”

 

“My name is Jeongin,” he said, bowing his head slightly. When Jeongin looked up, his eyes met Hyunjin’s as he attempted to smile brightly despite the way his face still felt way too cold.

 

The wide smile made Hyunjin think of two things; one, that the other boy really did have a mouth full of braces. He got rid of his braces years ago, so the assumption that Jeongin was probably younger than he was grew stronger, but it wasn’t like everybody started braces at the same age. Two, that there was something kind of cute about the smile. He quickly got rid of the latter of the two thoughts.

 

From his seat by the counter, Jeongin scanned the area with curious eyes, while Hyunjin followed his line of sight. The flower store wasn’t that packed with flowers due to the changing season, but they still had a wide array of colourful flowers to choose from. The more sensitive flowers were in the storage room, just in case. Most people came to the shop lately for a quick bouquet here and there. By the next month, they were expecting a few weddings so they can release more flowers then.

 

“Do you own the store?” Jeongin eventually asked, turning to the other boy. 

 

Thankful for the conversation, Hyunjin nodded, “ although it’s technically a family store. I just stay here a lot more than my parents do, but I don’t exactly run the place.”

 

“I was wondering that you looked a bit too young to manage a store by yourself.”

 

“Yeah, I’m only seventeen,” Hyunjin said, watching with slight amusement at the way Jeongin’s face lit up and the boy replied that he was sixteen, which meant they were close in age. It was good to know his instincts about Jeongin being younger were right, then. He always had a fondness towards kids; since he was the only child, Hyunjin liked the idea of having a younger brother, so liking kids felt natural to him.

 

He told himself that must have been the reason why he couldn’t help but want to know the other boy more, since the latter was younger than him, even if Jeongin looked nothing like a kid.

 

“What were you doing out in the pouring rain? It’s been like that all day,” Hyunjin decided to ask to keep the conversation flowing better. Jeongin asked last time, so it was his turn now; that’s how it worked, right? It was better than sitting together in silence, at least. The answer he got came in the form of a loud, clearly frustrated sigh as Jeongin began to explain the situation with big, wild hand gestures to accompany it. 

 

“And that’s the reason why I’m outside in this weather,” Jeongin soon finished with another loud sigh. “I ended up not finding my younger brother’s toy even when I searched the whole park. I thought I could drop by the mall and buy a new one instead, but the rain picked up and I found myself here.”

 

Hyunjin couldn’t help the way his heart swelled at the story; even if it was pretty unfortunate that the younger boy got caught in the rain, if there was anything clear to him, it was that Jeongin must have been a great brother and a good person overall. Who would spend hours looking for a lost toy? Admittedly, the older boy was a sucker for kind people with cute smiles. It was just his luck that Jeongin ended up in his store, then.

 

They talked until Jeongin no longer felt freezing, until the rain outside disappeared and along with it, the setting of the sun.

 

“I should get going,” the younger boy said hastily once he realized how late it was getting. Jeongin met Hyunjin’s eyes and with a bashful smile, bowed his head. “Thank you for letting me stay here, Hyunjin. Sorry about the floor again.”

 

“It’s no problem,” Hyunjin was quick to assure him, smiling brightly. After a few seconds, he decided to add, “you’re free to come back, if you want.”

 

At Jeongin’s surprised yet hopeful stare, the older boy found himself blushing and fumbling over his next few words.

 

“I m-mean, hopefully you won’t be caught in the rain by then, but if you ever need a bouquet or two—“ He cut himself off before he could embarrass himself further. Thankfully, Jeongin didn’t seem to notice his sudden awkwardness, as the younger merely gave him a wide grin and said he’ll take Hyunjin up on his offer one of these days. His mother’s birthday was coming up, so maybe he could drop by then. 

 

The older boy smiled, “I’ll look forward to it.”

 

“Yeah,” Jeongin said, still smiling although there was a telltale blush on his own cheeks. “I’ll see you then.”

 

When Hwang Hyunjin thought about his soulmate again, he was eighteen years old. 

 

The problem was, he liked Jeongin. 

 

They’ve been friends for over a year now. Jeongin’s visits to the flower shop grew more frequent as the months passed, to the point that Hyunjin felt weird whenever the other boy _wasn’t_ around. They never really did much whenever they were together except for talk and eat and maybe even just sit in silence every now and then. The silence wasn’t so bad when it was shared with Jeongin, for a reason Hyunjin didn’t realize was due to his growing feelings until recently.

 

It took him a while to come to the conclusion of having a crush on the younger boy. Hyunjin was pretty sure of that. There was a very distinct pull in his heart when it came to Yang Jeongin. He felt it whenever the other boy smiled, laughed, or even merely talked about random things in the day. What he initially brushed off as simple affection for a friend grew into something he can’t quite tame, gnawing at his heart and inflicting his mind with thoughts about how much he wanted to hold the other’s hand.

 

It was a few weeks after his 18th birthday, spent with family and friends—Jeongin was there, of course—when the flower shop’s door opened to reveal Changbin. 

 

“You clearly look disappointed to see me,” his best friend said flatly. “Expecting someone else, Hyunjin?”

 

The taller boy fought the blush from appearing on his face, choosing to ignore both statements, “what’s in that bag?”

 

Rather than answer verbally, Changbin walked up to the counter and promptly dumped the contents of the bag; out flew various sizes of plastic and paper with black marks on them, landing as a neat pile on the countertop. There must have been at least a few dozen or so of them. When Hyunjin merely stared at everything, clearly confused, the older boy rolled his eyes.

 

“Have you forgotten what you said? I know it’s been two years, but—“ Changbin stopped himself, glancing pointedly at Hyunjin’s right wrist before continuing. “How much longer will you keep your soulmate waiting?”

 

Immediately, a feeling of guilt washed over Hyunjin. It wasn’t that he _didn’t_ think about his soulmate per se within the last two years; it was hard to ignore the Words on his wrist, after all. It’s just that whenever he did think about anything regarding soulmates recently, it always came with the mental image of dark hair and mouth of braces. He didn’t know what was worse at that point—not think about his soulmate at all or desperately wish it was Jeongin?

 

The two of them have talked about soulmates before, for a fleeting few minutes. Hyunjin had mentioned he already had his Words, which he kept hidden behind bracelets on his arm, which the younger boy didn’t ask to see. Jeongin showed his bare arms and shrugged, saying something along the lines of being _too young to think about it_ just yet. The older of the two hoped that their thoughts aligned somehow; wouldn’t it be great if they were each other’s soulmate?

 

Still, it has been a year or so since they’ve met.

 

“Don’t you want to meet your soulmate?” Changbin asked gently. He could tell what Hyunjin was thinking about, since the latter was just too easy to read. 

 

The other boy sighed, “I do. Just not yet, I think.”

 

Not yet because he wanted to spend time with Jeongin without feeling bad about it. Hyunjin was in a little too deep when it came to the younger boy; he knew even if he gained all the tattoos in the world and met his soulmate eventually, it wouldn’t be that easy to just forget what he felt for Jeongin. It wouldn’t have been fair to the other boy, either, who seemed to enjoy their time together just the same.

 

“You have to start somewhere, so take these fake tattoos and update me when something happens,” Changbin said dismissively, making his tone bright and teasing to lift the mood up. He checked his phone for the time and quickly began to backtrack out of the store. “I have a date and I can’t be late, so see ya!”

 

“Bye,” Hyunjin waved back with a small smile, immediately frowning the moment his friend left.

 

What was he supposed to do now? He stared at the pile of fake tattoos Changbin had left for him and picked one up to examine. At least the designs he could choose from were nice. They were mostly floral, fitting for him, with a few more extreme ones like dragons and skulls that he could opt for if he felt like it. Mixed in with the fake tattoos were a few flyers for tattoo shops around the area, but Hyunjin had already decided that _if_ —a really big _if_ —he decided to get a real tattoo it’ll be from Chan’s store. 

 

As he was thinking about the whole situation, the shop door opened again.

 

“Hyunjin, guess what!” Jeongin said excitedly as he entered.

 

“Somebody’s excited,” the older boy greeted with a bright smile, hoping it covered up his thoughts from earlier. Maybe for the day, his soulmate could wait. As always, Hyunjin couldn’t fight the immediate happiness he felt upon seeing the other boy. It didn’t help that Jeongin looked like he was positively glowing, his smile wide and bright as always as he made his way behind the counter to stand right next to Hyunjin. 

 

As soon as he stopped to stare at the taller boy, his smile faltered a little.

 

Jeongin frowned, “something’s wrong.”

 

“Nah, something just came up before you got here,” Hyunjin said, waving a hand dismissively. “It’s alright now. So, what were you going to say?”

 

Although he still looked a little bit suspicious, the bright smile was back on Jeongin’s face as he began to tell Hyunjin his big news. Apparently, he had been washing the dishes back at home, when he very nearly let go of a plate and send it tumbling to the sink, all because he felt a sudden prickling sensation on his arm. The more Hyunjin heard, the more he knew what was about to come.

 

Jeongin got his Words that day.

 

Who knew the thought would make Hyunjin feel sadder than he expected? It did cross his mind a few times that sooner or later, Jeongin’s own Words would appear eventually. Either that, or he’ll even just pop into the store claiming that his Words have already been said, and then promptly introduce his soulmate soon after. These kinds of scenarios were right up there next to the ones where they ended up as each other’s soulmate.

 

“You sound really happy,” Hyunjin said instead, smiling despite himself.

 

For some reason, the comment made Jeongin flush a pretty shade of pink, all the way to his ears.

 

“Well, yeah. I was just thinking that—“ As he spoke, Jeongin rested his arm on the counter, before quickly removing it. It was only then that he noticed the amount of fake tattoo sheets scattered about, while Hyunjin himself belatedly realized that he should have kept those earlier. Now the older boy had to go through explaining everything to Jeongin. He was just about to formulate how to go about it when the younger boy spoke again.

 

“Why do you have so many tattoos?”

 

“ _What?_ ” Hyunjin blurted out instead, mind going blank. He knew Jeongin was answering him, saying something, but he couldn’t hear it. All he was focused on at that moment was the way the skin underneath his bracelets tingled and the way his heart seemed to sing Jeongin’s name over and over and over again. It took Hyunjin too long to snap out of it, with the help of Jeongin literally snapping his fingers in front of his face.

 

Blissfully unaware of Hyunjin’s internal panic, Jeongin then picked up one of the tattoo sheets and grinned, “hey, this one’s a sunflower. It’s pretty nice, where’d you get these?”

 

“It’s your fault,” Hyunjin finally said, the smile on his face not matching the accusatory tone of his voice. “All your fault, Yang Jeongin.”

 

He must have said _something_ right because the pretty pink shade was back on Jeongin’s features, coating the boy’s cheeks and the tip of his ears. The younger boy’s eyes flickered down to his arm for a split second, before returning to face Hyunjin, his blush merely turning a shade deeper as he did so. Hyunjin couldn’t help but giggle at the sight, stepping closer into Jeongin’s space and smiled when the other didn’t pull away.

 

“You couldn’t have given me at least a few hours of mystery?” Jeongin mumbled without much bite, looking down towards his shoes. “This is too much to take in a day, Hyunjin.”

 

“Are you disappointed?” The older boy couldn’t help but ask, suddenly worried that his feelings were probably one sided all along and that he’s taken the joy of having a soulmate from Jeongin. All this time he was thinking about his feelings, but what about Jeongin, right? He wasn’t sure if the younger boy felt anything, although he liked to hope sometimes. Almost immediately, the other boy said no, wide eyed with surprise.

 

“Uhm, before I pointed out the tattoos, I was saying that—“ Jeongin continued, before pausing to bite on his lower lip, a nervous habit. 

 

Suddenly he shook his head, moving to step away from Hyunjin, but found his back hitting the counter instead. Sensing that the younger boy wanted to escape, Hyunjin easily took another step forward and rested his hands on the counter, essentially trapped Jeongin between his arms. With their position, their height difference became much more apparent as he peered down at the other boy.

 

Hyunjin grinned, “you were saying?”

 

“This isn’t fair,” the shorter boy whined softly, the blush on his face now reaching down his neck as well. 

 

“I actually considered getting a real tattoo just so I could meet you,” Hyunjin said instead, grinning playfully. “I don’t mind not playing fair right now.”

 

“I actually spent a day under the rain to meet you,” the other countered, while both of them remembered that fateful day like it was just yesterday, even if it’s been close to a year since then. Jeongin seemed to relax as they both chuckled at his statement, small smile quickly turning cheeky. “Did you _really_ consider a tattoo? I can’t imagine you with one. Except maybe the floral ones, but not really.”

 

Hyunjin nodded, “for a moment, yeah. I was hoping these fake ones would work though. I’m glad they did and I didn’t even use them yet. Now, are you going to continue your statement or not?”

 

“Fine,” the younger boy huffed, playfully rolling his eyes. He paused to take a deep breath, before very softly saying, “I was just thinking that having Words meant I have a soulmate and that it could be you.”

 

If Hyunjin’s face was just as red as Jeongin’s at that moment, neither pointed it out. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally supposed to have Hyunjin with actual tattoos and set more of in a college au than a flower shop, but then soft flower boy Hyunjin suddenly appealed to me a lot that I couldn't even write about him with real tattoos, so there goes that story idea.  
>   
> If you like my work and would like to support me, please consider buying me coffee! https://ko-fi.com/stilljunhui


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